1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that reads an image on a medium mounted on a mounting surface.
2. Related Art
An image reading apparatus in the related art enters a horizontal installation state in which a mounting surface, on which a medium (original document) is mounted, is substantially flatly disposed and an image reading unit reads the medium mounted on the mounting surface. In this state, since a large area is required to install the image reading apparatus, it is difficult to secure installation space the image reading apparatus.
In order to solve the difficulty, there is provided an image reading apparatus that is provided with a stand and can be held in a vertical installation state by the stand (JP-A-2006-186771). In the image reading apparatus, it is possible to read an image in the vertical installation state and, since the apparatus is held in the vertical installation state when not used, an area of installation becomes smaller such that the image reading apparatus is improved in convenience for use and accommodation thereof.
In addition, reading of a medium (original document) mounted on a mounting surface is performed by causing an image reading unit installed with an image reading sensor to move. There are known, as a drive mechanism that causes the image reading unit to move, a “belt drive type mechanism” (JP-A-2006-186771) in which a drive force of a motor provided in a housing of the image reading apparatus is delivered to a timing belt such that the image reading unit moves, a “self-propelled mechanism” in which a drive force of a motor provided in an image reading unit is delivered to a pinion gear engaging with a rack such that the image reading unit moves (JP-A-2009-205134), and the like.
Incidentally, the stand in the image reading apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2006-186771 is attached to a back surface of the housing of the image reading apparatus. The stand is formed of a plurality of members connected to each other and is configured to be switchable between an apparatus-used state and an apparatus-not-used state. The stand holds the image reading apparatus in the apparatus-used state such that the apparatus is in a posture inclined with respect to an installation surface thereof, that is, in a vertical installation state.
In the apparatus-not-used state, the stand is folded by rotation of one member with respect to other members of the plurality of members connected to each other. The stand enters the state of being folded to a back surface of the housing of the image reading apparatus. In the image reading apparatus, the stand is not entirely accommodated in the housing in the state in which the plurality of members are folded in a direction orthogonal to the mounting surface but a part thereof is accommodated and attached to an accommodation section provided in the housing in the state in which the plurality of members are folded into the back surface of the housing.
In addition, in the image reading apparatus (JP-A-2009-205134) that has a “self-propelled” drive mechanism which causes the image reading unit to move, when the accommodation section of the stand that can hold the image reading apparatus in the vertical installation state is disposed so as to overlap a movement region in which the drive mechanism of the image reading unit moves when viewed in a direction orthogonal to the mounting surface on which the medium (original document) is mounted, the image reading apparatus is increased in size by the amount of the folding of the stand in the state in which the plurality of members are folded in the direction orthogonal to the mounting surface.